The present invention relates to marine drives, and more particularly to a pumping mechanism for pumping bilge water out of the engine compartment of an outboard motor.
The engine of an outboard motor is surrounded by a cowl which, of necessity, must provide numerous openings and passages therethrough. For example, there are openings to permit a supply of air to the engine, an opening for accommodating the pull cord for starting the engine, an opening to permit entry of throttle and shift cables, and the like. During operation, such openings, although closed by seals, may at times allow seepage to leakage of water into the engine compartment. Additionally, the motor cowling oftentimes may become partially submerged for a short time as, for example, when a boat comes down off plane, when a boat is launched from a trailer, or during heavy wave conditions. When the motor cowling becomes partially or totally submerged, water may enter the engine compartment and accummulate in the lower section of the motor cowling.
It would thus be desirable to provide a device which would pump and discharge any accummulated water from the motor cowling to a location outside of the motor cowling while not allowing ingress of water into the engine compartment should the motor cowling become partially or totally submerged. This is especially desirable for outboard motors carried out behind a boat wholly aft of the boat transom since the motor cowlings of these outboard motors usually are somewhat closer to the water than those mounted directly on the boat transom.
Various types of pump and/or drain assemblies for outboard motors are known, and attention is directed to the following U.S. patents relating to such arrangements:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 4,533,331 Bland Aug. 6, 1985 4,518,363 Bland et al May 21, 1985 4,403,972 Bland et al Sep. 13, 1983 ______________________________________